Sunday, September 14, 2014

New chicks after three weeks

I has not been a good week for the new chicks.  We started the week with five and ended the week with three.  I think we lost both of them to a hawk. 

On Thursday my wife and daughter went out to check on the rabbits.  They came back inside and a little while later my wife heard the mother hen freaking out.  She went outside and two of the chicks were in the front corner of the yard and the other two chicks were near the back fence (they never spread out like that).  The mother hen was in the middle of the yard.  The fifth chick (the bright yellow one) was nowhere to be found.  I searched the yard and the woods when I got home and found no evidence of it anywhere.  It didn't show up when it got dark and I didn't hear it peeping.  They make a lot of noise when they get separated.  Something got it, and got away in a hurry.  

The very next day we were sitting at the dinner table.  I looked out the window and saw the mother hen freaking out.  She jumped up and landed on the fence.  I jumped up, called for the dog, and ran outside.  All of the full grown layers were hiding in the bushes.  The three remaining chicks darted across the yard to get to them.  They were all visibly spooked.  I checked for the lost chick, but it was not to be found. 

So we're down to three.
I was in the yard for quite a while this afternoon.  I wanted to use some firewood to make room for more firewood (I have trees that need to come down).  So I built a fire and watched it burn for a few hours.  The chickens hardly came out from under the deck and when they did, they didn't get too far.  One time while they were out I got up to take the above picture.  The mother hen made a loud squawk and all of the chickens ran back under the deck.  They're really on edge.

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